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Ellis,Moute,Ersan,Beno,Dalembert and a 1st and a 2nd and all we get is Mayo which wants a new contract and will opt out to get it. Gay has a huge contract. Humphries does nothing for me. Don't know much about Bayless. Plus I don't see Kohl amnestying Gooden at all.

Ellis,Moute,Ersan,Beno,Dalembert and a 1st and a 2nd and all we get is Mayo which wants a new contract and will opt out to get it. Gay has a huge contract. Humphries does nothing for me. Don't know much about Bayless. Plus I don't see Kohl amnestying Gooden at all.

Gay has a huge contract, but in order for the Bucks to get that kind of player, they have to pay a lot, because nobody really picks Milwaukee as a free agent.

Humprhries isn't special, but he brings increased payroll flexibility and helps clear up a logjam.

Bayless is a fine backup PG, little more.

In that scenario, it would make sense to amnesty Gooden because it would keep them out of the luxury tax. I would actually save money.

Of all those things you listed the Bucks giving up, which one has substantial value? The answer is none of them. Sometimes fans make the mistake of overrating their own role players. Ellis, Dalemebert, Udrih, Illyasova, and Mbah Moute- ALL of those guys are overpaid for what they provide. Every single one.

Moute probably worth a late first to a playoff team. Ersan might fetch Marshon and filler. Ellis could fetch a Al Jefferson or just walk and gives us a max cap slot. A first is well a first and get us another young player to build with Sanders and Henson and Harris. Second rounder's are a gold mine in Milwaukee. I don't mind Rudy if they take Ersan and Gooden and a filler. I like the idea of Mayo but has a player option and will opt out for more.

I dig the first trade, but I'm not a fan of the second trade at all. I think both Ersan and Luc are more valuable than Humphries. Ideally we wouldn't lose picks, but ultimately that team looks like a team that can compete for the 6th seed in the East, so its not like we're giving up a top 5 pick.

I still like my trade idea. Ersan to the Nets, we get Marshon Brooks and Luke Walton from the Cavs. Then Cavs get Humphries and maybe second rounders from each of us. We probably use our Rockets second rounder from the Dalembert trade. Or Nets use a future first, for the Cavs to have incentive to take on salary. But the Cavs will need a contract like that to hit minimum cap ceiling anyway if they cant lure decent free agents.

It’s the start of trading season around the NBA, which generally means that being January, no one is doing anything, but lots of players are having to answer whether this is bothering them.

The biggest rumored name of the last week was Rudy Gay, which is a curiosity. Gay isn’t quite the talent many believe he should be. But the Grizzlies are having their best season while Gay and Zach Randolph seem finally to be playing together. And given injuries, they haven’t even had a chance to play together in the playoffs the last two seasons. Gay averages more than $18 million in salary the next two seasons, so if the new ownership doesn’t give this group one chance to see how far they can go when healthy and is doing a salary dump, well, Memphis you have a problem.

There’s been plenty of Lakers speculation regarding Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, though Lakers’ chief Jim Buss went on local radio last week to say this group will make a title run and no one is panicking or trading anyone. For now, it’s their story and they’re sticking to it.

For the Jazz, most speculate Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap will go, though just because they are free agents and they have young backups who need to play. But the Jazz do their business quietly and it the talk seems mostly media guesswork for now.

While the Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins and just about everyone else comes up in Sacramento, it seems inhumane now with reports back and forth the team may move to Seattle.

Which brings me to the Boston Celtics. I’ll admit I had them with their bench additions second in the East, but not good enough to beat Miami. Well, Miami has looked vulnerable, though it could be boredom. But with the return of Avery Bradley, who apparently is a defensive cross among Sidney Moncrief, Michael Cooper and Bruce Bowen, the Celtics have won five straight with solid wins over Indiana, Atlanta and Houston. But they’re small like Miami and hardly more talented.

So if you can’t win, what’s the point? Maybe give them one more chance. But GM Danny Ainge always has made it clear he was around for the breakup of the 1980s Celtics when the management let everyone basically retire without getting anything. Ainge said that won’t happen again. But if you are going to get value for Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce, it better be now. Would Boston trade one? Do they want to go forward as Rajon Rondo, suspended only about twice a season lately, as their leader? They are a team to watch.

As well as Miami. The conventional wisdom is the Heat is not pushed by the lack of serious rivals in the East, so they are coasting. But when they try against better teams it doesn’t come so easily. It reminds me a bit of the 1994-95 Rockets. They were defending champs, but sensed they weren’t good enough. They ended up trading for Clyde Drexler for the scoring boost they lacked and won again. So is it time to trade Chris Bosh? He’s always been the scapegoat whether deserved or not. Chris Bosh for Omer Asik and some youth or speed.

The Rockets made the deal of 2012 by getting James Harden, and he’s been great. But GM Daryl Morey always has chased stars. He’s said the Rockets need another. It’s not that widely talked about, but even after the Rockets got Asik away from the Bulls last summer, they then had talks about moving him on again in package deals for higher level players. Asik has been terrific this season though his numbers have fallen some of late. He’d probably be perfect in Miami as the big the Heat lacks. Bosh is an All-Star level player. But Miami has plenty of shooting. They need size and rebounds. Would they make a move with a title team like Houston did when they sensed they needed to get better? Or do they owe it to all those guys to give them a chance to defend their title?

Bosh, by the way, told the Miami Herald recently after losses to the Pacers and Bulls that the Heat was “kidding ourselves” if they thought they could win a playoff series playing small and the team was suffering from style. Asked about being traded, Bosh said: “No. Defend the title baby. That’s what it’s all about. Hell no, I’m not going nowhere. You’re not going to get rid of me that easy.”

There’ll be plenty of big names coming up, like Josh Smith, Brook Lopez (only for Dwight Howard), Ben Gordon, Monta Ellis, Eric Gordon, Luis Scola, Andrea Bargnani and Nene. But those are just names. The teams to watch are the ones who believe they have a chance to win or who need to create one.

The Orlando Magic are not merely active in trade talks as the 2013 NBA trading deadline of February 21st draws closer; no, Orlando is "aggressive" and "involved in virtually every trade scenario out there," reports Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD. Rob Hennigan, the Magic's general manager, has tasked top assistant Scott Perry to "[look] at everything that is possible" on the trade market."

Orlando, says Kyler, will "entertain offers for almost anyone on the roster," though they do value their young players such as Nikola Vucevic and Andrew Nicholson and won't part with any prospects unless there's a substantial return.

Kyler also says Orlando "bowed out" of trade talks centering on Memphis Grizzlies small forward Rudy Gay, who is owed more than $37 million over the next two seasons.

Orlando won't make a trade for the sake of making one, but it is clear, based on Kyler's report, that it will continue to work the phones until the deadline passes.